Declan Rice was substituted with 15 minutes of normal time remaining in Arsenal's tense 2-1 win against Chelsea, as David Raya made a spectacular save late on to preserve all three points
LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 1: Declan Rice of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Chelsea at Emirates Stadium on March 1, 2026 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)
Declan Rice came off during Arsenal's victory over Chelsea(Image: Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)
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Mikel Arteta admitted he had to survive a heart-stopping moment before Arsenal took an “incredible” step towards the title. Arteta praised keeper David Raya who made a wonder save to stop Chelsea substitute Alejandro Garnacho’s injury-time cross from creeping into the far corner.
It was the final moment of drama in a hard-fought London derby as Arsenal overcame ten-man Chelsea to restore their five-point lead over Manchester City at the top.
Gunners boss Arteta said: “The save that he made in the last action, it's a cross, it's not a shot, but he ended up being an unbelievable shot and I got the right angle and my heart almost stopped, but David's hand was there to bring it back to life.
“David is one of our leaders without a doubt, and he's a keeper that knows how to maintain his focus and decide a football match when you need it. Because sometimes he doesn't participate at all, and then in one action you have to be there, and that's very, very difficult to do.
“I'll try to stay calm, but obviously, we weren't getting the dominance and the sequences of play that we wanted and expected against the 10 men. So you have to navigate through that, and it's a big part of the game, and when you see the men and other teams are winning games, everybody's suffering, the margins are so small, so it's good.”
Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice asked to be substituted and is an injury doubt for their next game at Brighton. Arteta added: “We're going to have to get [him] checked and see if he's available for Wednesday.”
Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior was angry that his team finished with ten men as Pedro Neto was sent off for two yellow cards in the space of four minutes. Neto was remonstrating with the officials as he left the pitch and could face further action amid claims that he did not realise he had been shown the first yellow card for protesting about Arsenal’s winning goal.
LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 01: David Raya of Arsenal celebrates his side's second goal scored by team mate Jurrien Timber (not pictured) during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Chelsea at Emirates Stadium on March 01, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
David Raya was the hero for Arsenal(Image: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
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Incredibly, that was Chelsea’s ninth red card of the season and Rosenior was fuming afterwards about the lack of discipline costing his team. Rosenior said: “I think as a group, me as the leader as well, we have to take more accountability for some of the decision-making we're having in terms of our discipline and in terms of the moments of the goals, not just today, the goals we conceded.
“Some of them are just not acceptable at this level. You can fine players. But it's a focus and a concentration thing that we need to get right. I know the record of the club is not great from the start of the season, and now it's getting bad.”